Constructive Criticism
by Musical Enigma
Summary: Sora was an optimist, and like most glass-half-full individuals, he set out with a positive outlook on his intent to learn of his imperfections; imperfections which he would fix before anyone else discovered them.  S/R
1. Chapter 1

**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.**

Author: _Musical Enigma_

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: To put it simply, I was attacked by plot dinosaurs. They were vicious. Thus, I had to postpone the Mandrel Mishaps posting to write for them lest they ate me. So for the first time in recorded history, I have actually written this entire story out before posting. It's three chapters long, and I'll probably post the next one Wednesday, then the last on Saturday. So please please please (I'm not above begging or bribery…) Review?

Enjoy!

**Chapter One**.

Sora was a good lad. He did well in school, he never got into any gangs, and he admitted to that one time he kicked Kairi's cat in the face, thus giving it a minor case of brain damage (on accident). He could spell, he didn't have any substance abuse problems, and he brushed his teeth daily. He loved his family, his friends, and even the squirrel that gave him rabies in 5th grade had a spot in his heart. Sure, he was a bit on the short side and had a tendency for selective senses, but in all honesty, he could not figure out a reason why, despite all this goodness, he could not procure a boyfriend.

He didn't understand it. He was single. He wasn't evil. What could he possibly be missing in the search to obtain the love of his life? There was only one conclusion.

There must be something wrong with him.

But Sora was an optimist, and like most glass-half-full individuals, he set out with a positive outlook on his intent to learn of his imperfections; imperfections which he would fix before anyone else discovered how horribly flawed he was. It was a perfect plan.

The brunet figured the best place to start in search of his flaws would be with his family. They had known him the longest, so it was only logical that after nineteen years of living with the boy they would be some of the best pundits of his faults.

So it was that one particularly gloomy day in June found Sora knocking on the door of a small townhouse, bouncing slightly to relieve himself of the nipping wind. His choice in clothing, swim trunks and a matching wife beater, suddenly seemed impractical. But that didn't make sense. Summer meant sun, didn't it? It wasn't Sora being impractical; it was the weather.

Ten minutes of knocking later, the door finally opened to reveal a very disheveled Roxas. Sora grinned at his twin who had his pants pulled on backwards and a shirt that most certainly was not his. Roxas let out a small mumble that could have easily been "sorry to keep you waiting" or "why are you here." Sora just smiled, pushing past his sibling and sitting down on a couch in the living room. Roxas joined him a moment later, attempting to straighten out his hair with his fingers. The brunet noticed with the slight wrinkle of his nose that his blonde brother smelt rather odd, but chose not to comment on it.

"So…" Roxas began, having given up on his hair and choosing to cross his arms instead.

"I need some advice," Sora began, "you see—"

But Roxas didn't to see, because a loud thunk from upstairs startled him. Sora jumped in fear, and Roxas excused himself and sprinted up the stairs with a frightened expression. The brunet sighed and twiddled his thumbs, idly wondering if the weather would clear up. He had made plans to go to the beach today, after all.

On the second story of the house, Roxas whisper-yelled at someone to either shut up, or put their clothes on and get out. Ten minutes later, Roxas trotted back down the stairs with his own clothes on properly.

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly, his face an odd shade of tomato, "I uh…my book fell into the uh…fishbowl." Sora gave a quizzical look to his brother's clothing and the blonde, catching the observation, stuttered out, "A-and I got all wet…getting it out. So I had to change…" Roxas gave a slight cough, "Anyhow, you were saying?"

Seemingly appeased by the blonde's excuses, Sora took a deep breath.

"Roxas, what's wrong with me?"

"Pardon?" The blonde boy asked, rather confused.

"I need to know what's wrong with me so I can fix it."

Roxas paused for a moment, studying his other half. The brunet boy seemed obviously distressed over this issue, and Roxas really wanted to help. On the other hand, Sora did not take well to criticism. The usually chipper boy was prone to tears even if someone were to hint that the macaroni art he made everyone for Christmas last year was anything less than extraordinary.

"Why?" Roxas asked finally, hoping to buy some time.

Sora gave his sibling a look that clearly demanded an answer. Well, quite honestly, to anyone else it might look like the brunet was trying to imitate a chipmunk, but the message was clear to the blonde boy who had grown up seeing that look multiple times. So Roxas held his breath and figured that worst-case scenario, Sora and him no longer lived together; he would not have to suffer through the aftermath of his words, not to mention the likely possibility of Sora sobbing his way into dehydration.

"Well, you're kind of—"

"Not sexy." A deeper voice cut in.

The twin's heads turned so quickly to the door that there was probably some severe whiplash involved. One twin turned an unbecoming shade of maroon. The other failed to notice this vibrant change of color and gave a smile and a wave.

"Hi Axel." Sora greeted, "I didn't know you'd be stopping by."

"Yeah, I thought you **left** earlier." Roxas all but growled.

Axel closed the door behind him and strolled inside, plopping down on the couch next to Roxas and slinging an arm around the blonde.

"Well, I thought I'd **come** even earlier." Axel smiled sweetly.

"What? That doesn't make sense." Roxas scowled.

He was then picked up and deposited between Axel's legs. It must have been very uncomfortable, Sora mused, because Roxas let out a squeak and a low "Oh." Axel let out an "oh" of his own. Sora cleared his throat.

"So," the brunet smiled, oblivious to the tension in the room, "I'm not sexy?"

"Don't listen to Ax—" Roxas began, but was cut off by a large hand over his mouth.

"Exactly." Axel confirmed, "You're cute."

"Cute?" The twins exclaimed in unison, one with a slightly muffled, angry tone.

"Yeah, but cute ain't no sexy," Axel continued, "Cute is for puppies and dresses and glitter paint. Cute is messy hair, chubby cheeks, and big blue eyes. I mean honestly, kid, did you ever grow out of your baby fat? Scratch that; did you ever grow? You're so short! You're like cute personified. And don't even get me started on your clothes. Sexy is tight pants, makeup, and leather; not week old clothes from the floor." The man sneered before making an odd noise as Roxas shifted in his seat, "Now if you excuse us, I've got a bit of unfinished business to attend to upstairs with Rox here."

And Sora witnessed as his brother was slung weightlessly over the tall redhead's shoulder and carried upstairs. He sat stunned for a moment, vaguely offended by the upfront condemnation of his adorability. Unfortunately when he thought about it, Axel was kind of right. Sora could invest in a new look. He might have some issues with the whole height thing though…

But for the record, his clothes were only three days old, and they still smelt fine!

A constant thud was heard from upstairs as Sora left the house. Axel let out something that sounded like a moan, and the brunet grinned. Obviously his twin was beating the redhead up for being so mean. Served him right.

Sora arrived to the beach late, gasping for breath. The sun had finally shown up, only now he really wasn't dressed properly for the heat's debut. Lying out on the sand, Sora's best friend turned a sleepy eye to the brunet. Whatever snarky words the man had meant to say died in his throat as he coughed slightly.

"Sora, what are you wearing?" He asked slowly, drawing his eyes up from the tight blue jeans to the half done black button-up shirt to the leather necktie and finally the black lined blue eyes of his best friend.

"Uh," Sora responded suavely. He wiped some sweat from his forehead with a grimace.

"Aren't you hot?" The other prompted.

"Gee, you think so Riku?" The brunet blushed profusely, "cause you're kinda—"

"It's like 100 degrees out." Riku interrupted.

"Oh." Sora slumped visibly.

"Silly," Riku smiled and gave the boy's hair a good tussle, "Good thing I still have your swim trunks from the other day in my car. I'll be right back."

And so Riku ran off to his car and Sora pulled his sweaty clothes away from his body and wondered what he had done wrong. But when the silveret returned with shorts in tow and all the brunet could worry about was how fast he could strip out of his outfit. As Sora ran off to play in the cool water, he figured that there were still more people to get advice from; he couldn't let one mess up ruin his entire plan.

He failed to notice how Riku's eyes never left him.

Two days later, Sora decided to pay his older brother a visit in the hopes that he would be more experienced in the matters of how to woo someone, as well as more insightful on what Sora was doing wrong. He cornered his sibling in the kitchen of his small one bedroom apartment just in time for breakfast.

"Sora!" The man cried in what could easily have been mistaken for panic, "What a surprise!"

"Hey Cloud," Sora greeted, pushing past his sibling and settling down at the table.

Cloud subtly closed the door to his bedroom and locked it before turning back to the kitchen where a skillet of French toast sizzled. He flipped the engorged soggy bread with ease and turned back to his brother.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" The older blonde asked.

"Cloud, why will no one date me?" Sora asked, not one to beat around the bush on such a dire matter.

"Is that Riku boy causing you trouble again?" His brother asked with a frown.

"Cloud, that was years ago," Sora moaned, thunking his head on the table.

"I'll never forgive that boy for making you cry." Cloud smiled sweetly, placing a plate of warm carbohydrates before Sora and a kiss to his head. Sora grumbled from where his face was planted into the table. "I can still remember how you came home, sobbing about how Riku stole your first kiss. You were so cute—" Sora cringed at the word "—and big brother Cloud had to go beat that little shit up." The blonde beamed.

"I want a boyfriend," Sora mumbled when he finally gained the courage to remove his face from the woodwork, coming to the conclusion that he probably shouldn't mention to Cloud that it was Riku he was attempting to woo.

Cloud gave his younger brother a calculating stare before turning his eyes back to his French toast. He knew sooner or later this day would come.

"Sora…" the older man began with an exasperated sigh.

"Yes?" Sora looked up from his spot meekly.

"Do you know how to cook yet?"

"Cook?" the brunet asked with a tone of distaste.

"Yes, cook. Make food?" Cloud rolled his eyes. Sora rolled them right back. "I'll take that as a no. If there's one thing you should remember, the best way to someone's heart is through their stomach." The older blonde said with a small smile.

"But Cloud, I can't cook! You remember what happened last time!" Sora cried, obviously distraught with this advice. Cloud got up and meandered into the kitchen and returned shortly after with a large cookbook, which he placed in Sora's arms.

"Practice." Was his final command.

Sora scowled at the book for a moment before a heavy banging from Cloud's bedroom door interrupted the siblings. Sora let out a scream and Cloud stood abruptly, pulling Sora up from his seat and ushering him out the door.

"Thank you for visiting your dear brother but please do call before you barge in next time," the blonde said hurriedly as he pushed his younger brother out.

"What's behind that door?" Sora asked, putting up a good fight to see what was being hidden.

"The mailman." Cloud responded hastily.

Sora dug his heels into the carpet.

"Why is the mailman in your bedroom?" He cried out, horribly confused.

"I mean the mailman…asked me to look after his dog. I kept him. In there. Temporarily. The dog." Cloud stammered, finally shoving Sora out the door, "Ok bye!" And with that, the door was slammed directly in Sora's face.

Sora pouted as he carried the cookbook home to his own little studio apartment, intent on practicing like his brother had advised. Later, when the mailman stopped by to drop off letters, Sora sent him a curious look.

"You look confused." The ever-observant mail carrier claimed in a dull monotone.

"You're getting fatter." Sora mused, poking at the man's slightly protruding belly.

The longhaired brunet quirked an eyebrow and handed over the shorter male's mail.

"Tell your brother that Leon says hi." The man said with a small smile before leaving.

Sora went back into his flat with no intent on telling his brother anything seeing as the postal worker would have to go back to his brother's place later anyhow to pick up his dog. Something seemed a bit off concerning the whole situation, but the brunet chose to ignore it. So instead he dumped out his twelfth batch of fried cookies, and hoped that thirteen would be his lucky number.

Riku arrived at Sora's house on batch number twenty-seven, curious if his best friend would fancy watching the newest romantic comedy that had just come out on DVD with him. Movie in hand, the silver haired man marched up the stairs to his friend's home and knocked. He waited patiently, but soon the smell of burning caught his nose.

"Sora?" Riku called, a bit worried. He fished around in his pocket for the boy's spare key and hurriedly let himself in.

Inside, Sora did battle with an impressive billow of black smoke coming out of the oven. The entire kitchenette was an egg and batter covered disaster. Riku instantly jumped into action, opening all the windows and grabbing a towel to shoo the smoke away with his younger companion.

"Oh Riku! Hey!" Sora greeted cheerfully, as if his apartment weren't about to catch fire.

"What did you do?" Riku gasped as the last of the smoke cleared.

"I'm making cookies. I think this batch turned out best!" Sora exclaimed happily as he donned oven mitts and pulled out a sheet of questionable black blobs.

"Those are…cookies?" Riku asked, flinching back slightly as one of the "cookies" imploded unto itself with a hiss.

"Yeah. Sugar cookies." The brunet claimed with a hint of pride, rubbing his nose and leaving a flour trail across his face. "Wanna try one?"

Logic would say no, no one in their right mind would want to try a cookie burnt halfway to hell and back. But Riku took a cookie in his hand and with only a moment's hesitation, nibbled on the very corner of the charred object.

"Mmm?" Riku grimaced, holding back a gag.

"Bad?" Sora asked, obviously putout.

"They're not horrible…" Riku amended. Sora perked up slightly. "How about I make the cookies and you go set up the movie I brought?"

And so Riku set to work in the kitchen making his perfect cookies, and Sora set to work on the television so the boys could watch the film. With a heavy heart, Sora decided that perhaps cooking was not his forte. And as he settled down beside his best friend with a tragically corny relationship portrayed on the television and a warm cookie in his hand, Sora decided maybe that not being able to cook wasn't too terrible.

He failed to notice Riku's arm slung around his shoulders for the entire duration of the movie.

Sora was running out of family members who knew him very well. So it was with some trepidation that our brunet hero found himself at his final destination, knocking on the door so quietly that it was a wonder any taps were heard. He instantly began regretting his action when piercing screams of "Sora!" rang through the peaceful neighborhood.

Sora began to walk away from the house. He still had time to escape. He could hide in the bushes just ahead. There was still hope!

Just as he was about to leap into the shrubbery, a heavy weight tackled him to the ground. Thus, Sora was dragged into his old house by none other than his baby sister.

"Sora!" the girl squealed, taking an arm hostage and dragging the brunet up to her room, "it's been so long! How come you never visit? Why don't you and Roxas and Cloud come home? I miss you!" The girl whined.

"We were all here last weekend." Sora pointed out.

"I still miss you. Mom and dad are boring." His sister pouted.

"I miss you too, Selphie." The brunet smiled.

Selphie took to jabbering away again at what she'd been up to in the past few days in which he hadn't seen her. Sora listened like a good and attentive big brother, even allowing his nails to be painted a 'passion fruit pink' by the hyperactive child.

"When are you going to get a boyfriend?" Selphie asked after finishing a riveting tale of how her and Tidus were going to get married on unicorns or something along those lines. "I mean Cloud has one and Roxas has one, so why don't you?"

"Who are they with?" Sora asked, stiffened slightly as he was unaware that his brothers had procured significant others.

"Well Cloud is with the mailman…" Selphie began.

"No no no," Sora laughed, his anticipation easing, "He's just watching Leon's dog."

Selphie gave her brother an odd look and mumbled something about Leon not having a dog, but Sora chose that moment for his selective hearing to kick in. Selphie continued regardless, "And Roxas is with Axel."

"They're just best friends, Selphie." Sora chastised, "Honestly, where do you come up with these ideas?"

Selphie opened her mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it, closed her mouth, thought a moment, and then finally reopened it to repeat her initial question. Sora gave a long sigh at this, leaning back with care to avoid messing up his nails.

"I think something's wrong with me." Sora announced.

"Duh." Selphie responded. Sora shot the girl a glare.

"I mean in getting a boyfriend. I can't seem to do it right."

"Oh." Selphie thought for a moment, "it's probably cause you're not romantic."

"Romantic?" Sora echoed.

"Yeah. You know, long walks on the beach, holding hands, cuddling, gifts of chocolate and roses, sharing a paopu, candle lit dinners—romantic!" Selphie sighed dreamily.

"Isn't that all a bit…girly?" Sora asked.

"It's **romantic**." Selphie corrected.

"Sounds expensive too." Sora grimaced, wondering how his meager job would be able to pay for such extravagant things.

"It's **ROMANTIC**." Selphie all but growled.

"Okay okay, it's romantic." The male brunet admitted, raising his passion fruit pink fingernails in the air as a sign of defeat.

'_You wanna watch the sunset?'_ Sora texted Riku as he walked home from his old residence. He only had to wait a few moments before his phone buzzed in his pocket with a reply.

'_You want to hold hands too?'_ Said the snarky silveret.

Sora frowned and put the cell phone back in his pocket, thinking that had been one of his least productive attempts. He was nearly home when his phone buzzed again.

'_Meet you at the pier in 5.'_

Sora smiled before he realized he had past the beach around ten minutes ago. Not to mention he didn't have any presents for the silver haired boy. Setting into a minor panic, Sora took off at a run towards the nearest convenience shop. He didn't have much money on him, so Sora ended up buying a bag of skittles and sprinting the rest of the way to the beach.

It wasn't until he reached the pier where Riku was waiting, however, did the purchase seem utterly ridiculous.

"I uh…" Sora panted, "For you."

The crinkled yellow package was offered to the older boy. Riku stared a moment before laughing merrily. Sora, embarrassed beyond belief, turned away and cringed. He hadn't meant to make a fool of himself.

"If you were hungry, you should have just said so. I would've taken you out to dinner." Riku commented as he settled down, "now come on. Sit." A large pale hand grabbed Sora's smaller, tanner one and pulled the boy down beside him.

"Nice nails." Riku smirked.

"Shut up." Sora pouted.

They sat, their feet dangling just above the water, and watched as the sun set before them. The crinkled bag of candy lay forgotten behind them on the sandy pier (it would probably kill a fish or two in the near future). Sora quietly took in the beautiful image, having never tired of the island's fiery kiss goodnight to the earth.

He failed to notice how his hand remained tightly clasped in Riku's.


	2. Chapter 2

**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.**

Author: _Musical Enigma_

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: As promised, here is chapter two on time. Please review?

Enjoy!

**Chapter Two**.

Despite all his good efforts, the end of the week rolled around and Sora was still boyfriend-less. This left him (in his opinion) with two options. Option one: pump up the volume on his sexy, culinary, romantic side and continue to woo Riku silly, or option two: get more advice.

He couldn't pull of sexy without looking weather-challenged and feeling ridiculous. His culinary skills were questionable at best. And he really didn't have enough money to be romantic. So as much as the brunet boy hated to have all of his flaws denounced, he found option two to be his best bet.

He had run out of close family to ask for advice (excluding, of course, his parents—he didn't want old people recommendations, after all) so his last option was to try his friends. Ever the optimist, Sora prayed that one of his friends would have some foil-proof, nifty device to inform him exactly how to woo his love without causing any physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional damage.

The first person Sora chose to pester was none other than Kairi, his other best friend. The redheaded girl was the mayor's adopted daughter and a semi-holy figure, seeing as the whale god that the islanders worshipped spit out the child in a storm one night. Terribly impressed by the girl's having been inside a giant fish, Riku and Sora had befriended her instantly.

Sora made his way to the mansion where Kairi lived and was escorted by a maid to the giant backyard where the redhead lay out by the pool, sipping on a tall iced drink as she read a magazine. Sora sat on the edge of her tanning chair as another maid brought him a drink as well.

"Hey Sora," The girl smiled, removing her sunglasses and setting her reading aside.

"Hey." The brunet responded with a small grin of his own.

A moment passed in silence as Sora twiddled his thumbs and Kairi sat up straight. The whale child frowned at her friend's behavior and, fed up with it, smacked him lightly in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Sora cried. Kairi could give a mean whack when she wanted.

"Alright buddy, spill. What do you need?" The redhead asked, not bothering to apologize.

"What if I just wanted to bask in the company of my best friend?" Sora asked with a small pout.

"Do you?" The girl raised a brow.

"Well—Ow! Stop that!" Sora frowned as Kairi hit him again. His arm was going to bruise at this rate.

"Come on Sora, you know I have a date tonight with Rai and I have to start getting ready in," She reached into Sora's pocket and checked his cell phone, "an hour." She decided, setting the phone aside.

"It's not even two!" Sora exclaimed.

"It's a girl thing. Now out with it." Kairi tapped her foot with feigned impatience. The brunet sighed, giving into the girl's demands.

"I need to know what's wrong with me." Sora mumbled.

"Just like, anything or…?" The whale child prompted.

"Things that would make someone not like me."

"Hm…" Kairi studied her friend for a moment. She noticed Sora was still rubbing the area where she had playfully hit him, "That right there." She said, stopping Sora's motion, "You're too sensitive."

"Sensitive?" Sora repeated, slightly offended. It wasn't like he was crying or something!

"You're a boy. You're supposed to be rough and tough and rowdy." Kairi explained with a gorilla-esque demonstration.

"Just because you're dating a football player doesn't mean all guys are like that." Sora muttered.

"You asked for my advice." The redhead said with a roll of her eyes.

The brunet remained silent at this comment. He had asked for her advice. Kairi, sensing her friend's discomfort, scooted over and gave the boy a one-armed hug. Bright blue eyes met blazing violet ones, and the girl bumped their heads together playfully. Still not getting the smile that she was aiming for, Kairi moved to her last resort. She began to tickle.

"Ah! Haha Ka-Kai-Kairi st-stop it!" Sora shrieked, attempting to wriggle out of her grasp.

"Not until you smile!" The girl crooned.

"I'm smiling! I'm smiling!" The boy gasped between fits of laughter.

But Kairi was relentless, and soon Sora could see no other option available to him. So with a choked laugh and a quick prayer that the feisty redhead wouldn't murder him, Sora threw all his force to the side of the tanning chair. They tumbled right into the pool with a loud scream and a splash. The brunet broke the surface of the water, his hair a physical weight piled above his head. Beside him, Kairi floated in shock with her short tresses covering the majority of her face. She swept back the red strands and gave her friend a glare that personified the saying 'if-looks-could-kill.' Sora ignored this and pointed to his face.

"See? Smiling."

After being forcibly ushered out of the mayor's house, Sora walked over to his other best friend's place. Riku's home was closer than his own, after all, and Sora was in desperate need of a shower. He left a trail of water in his wake as he traveled the block to his destination. The silver haired man in question greeted his brunet friend with a befuddled look and a shove towards the bathroom. Sora dove into the room without complaint, trying his best not to drip all over his companion's plush abode.

Our hero emerged from the shower squeaky clean and in a set of Riku's larger clothing. After a short search of the luxurious home, Sora found his cohort lounging against the kitchen countertop. A satisfying smell came from a pot on the stove.

"Thought you might be hungry." Riku explained, standing up to stir the contents of the pot, "cut those up for me, will you?" He then asked, motioning towards three tomatoes that lay on a cutting board.

Sora nodded and set to work, first cleaning the fruits and then carefully making thin cuts with a sharp knife. He was halfway through the second tomato when his hand slipped and the knife came upon his middle and index fingers instead of the tomato. The cut instantly began to bleed and Sora dropped his utensil in favor of staring at the gushing red liquid.

"You okay?" Riku asked, having heard the knife clatter to the floor.

"Uh…" Sora muttered, and remembering Kairi's advice he let out a shaky laugh, "I'm fine. Just being ah…rowdy?"

"With a knife?" Riku turned quickly, obviously startled by his companion's choice in words. His eyes quickly took in the brunet's jittery smile and bleeding limbs, "Oh Sora…"

The smaller boy was quickly led back into the bathroom and his fingers thrust under cold tap water as the older one looked through cabinets for medical supplies. Once the wound was properly washed, he poured on rubbing alcohol, followed by a few dabs of Neosporin and finally wrapped the damage in gauze and taped the fingers together. Finished with his work, the silver haired man looked up to his silent companion with a small smile.

"Don't scare me like that again, okay?"

Sora gave a shaky nod, and with a choked hiccup, a few tears began to leak from his eyes. Riku sighed in relief, gathering the snuffling boy up in his arms. The brunet felt rather ashamed that he wasn't manly enough to laugh through the pain of a shallow cut, but his fingers hurt and Riku was just so comforting that Sora really didn't mind being such a pansy.

He failed to notice when Riku dropped a kiss on his head.

The next few days, Sora found himself at work. He had to pay the bills for his apartment somehow. The brunet worked as a waiter in a local diner, where the pay was well below average, but the tips good, especially now during the tourist season. And Sora spent a long afternoon smiling at people, entertaining bratty children, and overall doing his best to squeeze out every last tip possible.

After a seemingly endless day, it was finally time to close up shop for the night. With a sigh of relief, Sora locked up the front doors and turned to his remaining coworker. Brooms, mops, a portable vacuum, and dishrags were procured, and the two steadily began to work to the radio sounds of easy listening.

It was somewhere in the middle of a smooth jazz saxophone rendition of 'Sexyback" that Sora had an idea. Demyx was a cheerful lad, and seeing as the two had quite a lot in common (other than the ability to sweep and wipe tables, that is) Sora decided the blonde boy with the unfortunate hybrid hairstyle would be the next person from whom to ask for advice.

"Demyx?" Sora called out to the boy who was currently scrounging for change between the booth cushions. Demyx let out a grunt to indicate he was listening, despite his arm being lost somewhere in the depths of a bright red seat, "What's something you think that people wouldn't like about me?"

Demyx paused his cushion search to contemplate this question before announcing, "You're loud."

Sora felt his eyes widen in disbelief. Demyx, the non-stop blabbermouth of Destiny Islands was calling _him_ loud? If that wasn't irony, he didn't know what was. The clash-of-the-80s hair disaster eventually caught up on his buddy's disbelief.

"Not that I think you're too loud," The older boy hastily explained with a myriad of hand motions from the one limb that wasn't being eaten by the booth cushion, "It's just that some people don't like loud people and I know that because sometimes I get told I'm too loud and people don't like that much either and I figure we're about the same loudness wise so really I'm just trying to help!"

Sora refrained from making a comment, and Demyx took this as a sign to continue.

"I know Zexion doesn't like it when I'm loud because he's usually reading or studying or in class or at work or something silly like that and he keeps saying that if I don't shut up he'll find somewhere else to go where I won't be able to find him like a manage to do now and that sounds kinda stalker-y but it's not I promise. Anyhow he seems to think I'm the loudest when he's busy and that's when it bugs him most."

Still, the brunet boy made no response.

"Sora?" Demyx asked in a soft voice, fearing he either hurt the boy's feelings or made his brain implode. He sincerely hoped it was neither, but if one option had to be chosen, Demyx opted for hurt feelings over brain death.

Sora turned his head to indicate he was listening.

"Why are you so quiet?" The blonde asked worriedly.

"I'm practicing." Sora replied with a grin.

Demyx "ooh"ed in comprehension and returned with vigor to the seat cushions and his hunt for stray change. Sora went back to his tables and cleaned up a ketchup drawing of a penis (it would seem Axel had been here recently). True to his word of practice, he didn't say a word about the vulgar condiment art; he just kept cleaning.

Sora was confident that for once, he'd be able to fix his flaw.

Even if it did render him bored beyond belief.

Riku took the brunet boy out for ice cream the following day. Sora, cautious to obey his new rules, ordered a fat free sorbet to help him deal with his 'cute' chubbiness issue. He then offered to pay for the treats (his money was shoved aside by the silver haired male who insisted that he had asked the other out for ice cream, so he would be paying). Finally, he only spoke in short responses when spoken to.

All in all, Sora couldn't be more proud. Now if only Riku would stop frowning…

"Sora…" the aqua-eyed man gazed past his untouched ice cream to his friend, "are you mad at me?"

Sora looked up from his, for lack of a better word, disgustingly sugar-free treat and shook his head no.

"Then why aren't you talking to me?"

"I thought you might like some quiet," Sora responded, stirring his 'healthy' product in circles.

"If I wanted quiet, I would have stayed home." Riku sighed. He turned his attention to the quick-forming goop before his friend, "You don't like that, do you?"

"It's fine." Sora mumbled, spooning some of the now questionable substance into his mouth with a slight grimace. Riku chuckled.

"Let me get you a new one."

"But Riku, you already got me one!" The brunet claimed.

"And you don't like it." The silver haired man stood up to go back to the counter despite Sora's protests.

The younger boy adopted a sorrowful look that could put abandoned puppies to shame. His plan wasn't working. Riku was supposed to see how thin and sexy and considerate he was, not try and fatten him up and make him be annoying. But when the silver haired man returned with a chocolate fudge sundae in hand, Sora's complaints vanished as he dug into the treat. A few prompts later from Riku, Sora began to speak rapidly and nonstop about everything and anything that he'd been holding in.

He failed to notice how Riku smiled throughout his pointless, sugar-induced babbling.

Three days later, Sora visited the library. He was no longer sure on how to progress in his campaign, and was seriously considering looking for a book that would be titled something like: Dummy's Guide to Getting a Boyfriend. Sora meandered about the shelves full of decaying pages, stopping occasionally to look at the books with the most colorful spines.

All in all, it was only a matter of time before he got lost.

Sora speed walked through the aisles of books, glancing down each one hurriedly as he looked for a way out. There was a reason he never went in here alone, he realized. The sudden fear that he would be lost amongst the books forever, left to die or starve until someone needed a—he skimmed a title on his right—bibliography on the life and times of Mickey Mouse.

"Sora?"

The brunet stopped dead in his tracks at the soft voice, turning to run to his savior. The small girl giggled meekly as Sora all but threw himself into her rescuing arms.

"Namine!" He whispered in relief, not one to forget that he was still in a library, "I thought I was a goner."

The girl laughed at his antics, obviously not taking him seriously. Sora dusted himself off and glanced around the rather empty room.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I work here." The girl responded, "So...can I help you find something?" There was a lilt of teasing in her voice that Sora couldn't quite decipher.

"I was looking for something for…relationship…starters." Sora murmured, feeling rather lame. Namine's took on a rather flustered look.

"Sora," She began lightly, "This is the children's section."

"Oh…" the brunet's face turned a red that would make ketchup look dull.

Then the platinum blonde led her brunet companion away from the small section of the library and to another familiar face. Her eyes danced with mirth as she explained Sora's situation to the slate haired man that the brunet had come to know through the mutual party of Demyx. While Namine had trouble containing her giggles at the reminder of Sora getting lost in the children's books, Zexion simply stood with his face in a moderate frown. After receiving no reaction from her coworker, Namine bid the boys farewell and returned to her post, still snorting slightly with laughter. Zexion turned to Sora.

"You're that boy Demyx works with." He stated.

"Yeah," Sora replied, "He's uh…really fond of you."

Zexion made no comment on this, choosing instead to lead Sora into a larger part of the library, weaving through book stacks and down staircases as if he owned the place. Sora nearly broke a sweat trying to keep up with the guide who kept disappearing behind shelves and around potted plants. An intellectual's labyrinth later, Sora found himself amidst all the self-help books a boy could possibly want. He gingerly reached out to touch one, but lost his nerve when he noticed that Zexion remained standing behind him, that indecipherable look on the older man's face.

"You're still here." Sora said, unsure of whether this was a question or not.

"You might get lost." The man replied with an air of indifference.

Sora shrugged in noncommittal agreement and paused for a moment before he turned back to the books. So maybe Zexion wasn't one of his closest friends, but he did know the man well enough to be considered an acquaintance. He probably knew more about the slate haired fellow than most other people did, given Demyx's stalker-like tendencies and his inability to keep information to himself (though on a separate note, Sora really did not need to know that the man before him was more of a briefs guy, nor that most of his underwear was purple).

So it was decided that Zexion would be the next person for Sora to question (about his lack of boyfriend, not his preferred style and color of undergarment). With a deep breath, Sora turned back to the librarian who was, without a doubt, wondering why the brunet kept spinning in circles.

"Zexion, do you think there's something wrong with me?"

If the slate haired man showed any emotion, it was artfully masked behind a single blink.

"I'm not allowed to insult visitors." He claimed.

"But we're friends, right?" Sora asked. Zexion gave a half-shrug. Sora took it as a sign to continue, "See, there's this boy I like. And I really want him to notice me. But I've known him forever and since he hasn't asked me out during our entire lifetime, I figure something must be wrong with me. And until I fix it, he won't like me." The vertically challenged brunet explained. "So what do I need to fix?"

Zexion took a meticulous look at the young boy before him before replying, "You're unkempt, you're ebullient, and you have no concept of how to be unobtrusive. Your grammar is atrocious, and your hair is even more so. Your mere presence screams of ignorance, and you exemplify the term oblivious." He raised an eyebrow, as if daring Sora to contradict him.

"Oh," Was all the brunet could think to say. His heart sunk a little. That was quite a lot of things that Zexion had pointed out. He didn't even understand most of it. Nor did he have a piece of paper to write down the terms to look up in a dictionary later. Sora snuffled slightly.

"But that's all irrelevant," Zexion continued with an irritated sigh, as if he hated the thought that his observations weren't worth anything, "Shouldn't you be asking him what he thinks?" The slate haired man strained. He was paid to stamp books, not play matchmaker. Damn this kid and his pitiful blue eyes.

Something inside Sora's head clicked. All of a sudden, everything made sense. Why not just ask Riku? He would know first hand what it was about Sora that he didn't like! His thoughts were cut short, however, by a loud crash a few rows down.

The brunet and the slate haired man rushed towards the sound of the ruckus, where none other than Demyx sat, buried under an avalanche of gardening books.

"Help!" the blonde cried, unable to see either Zexion nor Sora in his buried state, "I've been attacked!"

"Shut up." Zexion commanded, setting to work at pulling books off of the clumsy man.

"Zexion? Is that you? Have you come to save me again? You do care!" Demyx cried gleefully, as he wriggled about under the homicidal literature.

"I said shut up." Zexion repeated with a growl and lunged at the blonde.

Sora closed his eyes, unable to watch the carnage that would surely result from Zexion having lost his mind. He knew Demyx should have listened to his own advice to be quiet. He knew the aspiring musician should have stopped stalking the shorter man. Now he would die and Sora would have to work the night shift alone.

Figuring that he didn't want to lose the blonde man as a coworker, Sora opened his eyes. What he saw, however, made him reconsider the action. The quiet librarian and the obnoxious waiter were…kissing? Well that didn't make sense. Zexion probably just tripped and fell on Demyx's face.

Demyx let out a moan and groped at Zexion's butt.

Sora took this as his cue to leave and fled from the scene with his hands over his eyes.

The brunet paced outside, wondering what to do next. He needed to talk to Riku, but he wasn't sure what to say. As he trudged home in the late afternoon sun, a buzzing sound caught his ear and he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

'_Wanna hang out?'_

Well that certainly made things easier, Sora mused as he punched out a reply and picked up the pace to get home quicker.

'_Sure thing! I need to talk to you about something anyhow. My place?'_

'_Uh…me too, actually. See you in ten.'_

'_Cool, see you soon.'_

He failed to notice the hesitance in Riku's message.


	3. Chapter 3

**Constructive Criticism.**

Author: _Musical Enigma_

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Note: Here's the last bit. Sorry for the lateness. Enjoy.

**Chapter Three.**

Riku was an observant lad. He noticed when the milk in the refrigerator went bad, when boys used too much cologne, and when girls wore their skirts a little too short. He noticed when the mailman was late, when his alphabet soup lacked essential consonants, and when people mumbled because they didn't know the words to a song. He was the first to notice when crazy Aunt Maleficent went crazy, when he ran out of toilet paper in the loo, and when his goldfish drowned.

Riku noticed Sora. He noticed when Sora developed an odd affinity for nail painting, when he'd kicked Kairi's cat in the face and given it brain damage, and when he'd not comprehended that his brothers were shacking up with other men. He noticed how the boy's hair changed to a lighter hue in the summer, how he chewed on his bottom lip when he was nervous, and how he could always see a bright side to any situation.

So really, it was only a matter of time before Riku noticed Sora was acting odd.

It all started at the beach, where brunet came dressed like he just walked off the runway. While appealing to the eye, the attire seemed very misplaced on his usually laid back best friend. Then there was the cookie fiasco. Sora never attempted to make anything that was more complicated than cereal. Finally there was the skittle gift. Not that Riku had anything against skittles; it was just strange.

And that was just the first week.

By the middle of the second week, the silveret was even more worried. First, Sora had decided to bleed all over his kitchen. This would have been fine (if not mildly annoying) if the brunet usually acted as such, but seeing as the younger male still cried when getting a paper cut, the behavior was concerning. Then Sora, king of all blabbermouths and the occasional pitchy outburst, had been quiet. Riku had never witnessed his buddy so calm; it was like he had stepped into an alternate reality. To top it off, the boy had refused the treat of ice cream. All that was missing was the Twilight Zone theme.

By this point, Riku had had enough. It was time to do something about his friend's strange behavior.

He figured the most logical person to question first would be Roxas, Sora's twin. The blonde haired counterpart of his best friend wasn't exactly Riku's most favorite person (the result of a horrible incident years ago which involved a turkey, pirate treasure, and Riku's luscious locks), but for the sake of Sora's sanity, he found himself knocking at the door of the two-bedroom townhouse. A chipper blonde opened the door, but upon seeing the silver haired man, the boy's face quickly turned to a scowl.

"What." Roxas spat.

"Hello to you too." Riku sneered.

A moment passed with both males simply glaring the other to death. The moment was ruined, however, when two pale arms wrapped themselves around the blonde boy and a shocking blast of red appeared on his neck. Roxas turned an unnatural shade of chardonnay and elbowed the offender in the stomach, effectively stopping the impromptu molestation. A pair of green eyes finally registered another person at the door.

"Oh. It's you." The man drawled.

Riku wasn't sure which male he disliked more, the short-tempered blonde or his psychotic pyro boyfriend. But he took a deep breath, and with possibly an incurable damage dealt to his pride, he murmured three words that he would never have thought he'd say to his least favorite people.

"I need help."

Axel and Roxas exchanged glances. The admission looked physically painful to the silver haired man, who was currently undergoing what looked like a minor seizure. Obviously, something must be wrong—wrong to Armageddon-esque proportions—for the pale man to seek their advice. After a few minutes, Riku managed to start breathing at a vaguely normal rate again and his eye just about stopping twitching.

"There's something wrong with Sora."

Riku expected possibly a worried expression, and perhaps a question as to what was wrong. He did not expect Roxas adopt his 'I-will-hurt-you-terribly' face (one that Riku was well acquainted with) and go ape-shit on his boyfriend. The silver haired man watched wide-eyes as the blonde boy began throwing punches at the tall redhead and yelling things such as "You jerkwad!" and "I told you he'd take your advice badly!" and "No sex until this is fixed!" Axel responded to these accusations accordingly with "AHHH!" and "OWW!" and "NOO!"

Riku decided it might be best at this point to leave, lest he be accused as an accessory to homicide.

Having made no progress in his investigation, Riku decided to check Roxas off of his list and head to visit Sora's other brother. Now if Riku had a choice, he would take on Roxas over the eldest Strife brother any day; at least Roxas had a conscious. Cloud Strife, however, was a rugged beast of a man who would offer you a freshly baked cookie as he poisoned your milk with a substance untraceable to an autopsy team. Riku was nothing short of terrified of the older blonde, but knocking knees aside, he still managed to tap on the wooden door of the man's apartment; if it meant getting Sora back to normal, he'd do anything.

Cloud answered the door with a disgruntled expression and a yawn. He cocked an eye to the silver haired man before him, waiting for a greeting or an explanation or whatever the guy wanted.

Riku opened his mouth to speak, but found no words there. His mind buzzed blank as his heart rate sped up. He gulped down stale air, hyperventilating slightly. His eyes darted around for an exit. He couldn't do this. He couldn't face this man who had once beat him up for telling his younger brother that Santa wasn't real.

Riku's mind decided then to short circuit, what with the lack of breathing and all. Cloud let out another yawn as he watched the silveret's body slump to the floor.

So the eldest Strife shut his door and went back to the kitchen, side stepping his brunet companion's question of who was at the door with a fresh plate of strudel. On his way out, the mailman did Riku the favor of dragging his unconscious body outside of the apartment complex.

When Riku awoke on the curb smelling of dog piss, he decided maybe he should forgo Cloud's place in favor of a shower.

On second thought, he decided perhaps to avoid the eldest Strife for the rest of eternity.

After scrubbing himself raw, Riku contemplated his situation. He was getting nowhere fast on his current track. It was time to pull out all the stops. The silver haired man bid his dignity farewell as he set off to the childhood home of his best friend.

Selphie was a darling to get along with once you got to know her. Riku normally didn't mind the talkative girl, and would often spend time gossiping with her whenever Sora wasn't around. But Selphie also had a vicious side. And while she could be an angel to the dastardliest of sinners, she could just as quickly be a devil to anyone who lost a bet and didn't pay up (the silveret assumed she learnt this skill from her eldest brother). Unfortunately, it would just so happen that Riku was in debt to this evil mistress in a dressed in cheery yellow.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." The girl greeted, a wicked gleam in her eye.

"What do I owe you this time?" Riku sighed, simply wanting to get his deed done so he could converse about more important things.

"Nothing you haven't done before." Selphie grinned, throwing a potato sack to the boy, "get moving."

She saluted as she shut the door. Riku sighed. Tidus was going to hate him.

As he dragged Tidus's kicking and cursing body back to Sora's sister, he vaguely wondered how it was possible that neither he nor Selphie had been arrested for kidnapping yet. He also wondered why Tidus continually fell for the 'I lost five munny in this sack; can you find it?' line. Honestly, this had to be at least the twenty-ninth time this year he'd pulled that maneuver.

"Oh good, you got him!" Selphie squealed in excitement when Riku showed up on her doorstep. Riku grunted. Tidus let out another colorful string of curses.

"Oh Tidey-widey, did you miss me?"

"Selphie get off!"

"How about a kiss for your best girl?"

"Eww Selphie! Licking isn't kissing!"

"No? How about like this?"

Riku watched with mild horror as Tidus was pushed down, a loud crack emitting as his head hit the wood flooring. Selphie didn't seem to notice, however, as she set about molesting her captive. After a moment, the girl pulled back with a mildly disgruntled look.

"Oh phooey, he's unconscious."

Riku decided then that it would be a good time to leave before Selphie coerced him to hide Tidus's body once her wild plans eventually killed the poor boy. Surely there was someone else who had information on his best friend's mood change. Someone less homicidal, preferably. He waved goodbye to the chipper girl, though it went unnoticed as Selphie was attempting to drag the unconscious brunet up the stairs into her room.

The silver haired man figured he'd call the cops if Tidus didn't show up for blitzball practice on Tuesday. It was his duty as a citizen, after all (disregarding, of course, that Riku had helped to put the other male in peril).

Riku walked to his next destination, slightly worried at how quickly he was running out of witnesses. He really didn't want to have to retrace his steps and face criminal charges from simply hanging around Sora's family. He vaguely wondered how it was that his bubbly brunet managed to escape the family trait of felon activity.

Eventually, Riku made it to his second best friend's home. In a spout of nostalgia, he decided to climb a nearby tree outside his friend's window instead of going through the house like a sane person. He had done it multiple times as a kid, after all.

Clearly his climbing skills were not up to par, however, as Riku clumsily scaled the tree, receiving numerous cuts and thwacks to the head with the occasional branch on his journey. He thanked the gods once he finally reached the right height and called hello through the open window. Riku expected his red haired companion to smile, and perhaps chide him for not visiting in a while. He did not, however, expect the girl to scream bloody murder and throw a stuffed moogle at his face.

Then again, he did not expect to pop in on Kairi kissing the daylights out of her boyfriend. Riku had the decency to look ashamed as he fell from his tree perch and onto the rather hard ground below.

"Oh my god, Riku are you okay?" Kairi called from her window.

"Ughh." Riku groaned.

"You're alive, right?" The redhead questioned.

"Yeah."

"Oh good," Kairi sighed.

"Yeah," Riku agreed.

"So…" The girl hesitated, "I'm uh…kind of busy."

"Yeah."

"So I'm gonna go…" Kairi said slowly, "I'll see you around."

"Yeah." Riku responded, not really capable of doing much else but agreeing. The girl sent Riku one last worried look before closing her window and getting back to whatever it was heterosexual couples do in their spare time. The silveret didn't spend much time pondering it, mostly because his head felt like it was going to explode from all that throbbing it was doing.

Perhaps, Riku mused, some tea would be a comfort to his aching head and body; it would be like a warm hug to his brain. It was an odd thought process, but a thought process nonetheless, thus Riku toddled off in the direction of the nearest café.

"Welcome to Destiny Diner, where all your delicious delights are devoured!" A blonde man with some really crazy hair screamed, practically assaulting Riku in his attempt to make his dining experience a delight, "What can I get for you?" The man smiled, twitching with anticipation at the sheer excitement of it all.

"Tea" Riku groaned, his head crashing down onto the table at which he'd been forcibly seated.

"Right-o!"

The adrenalized waiter returned with timing that would put a racecar pit crew to shame. He waited, bouncing on the tips of his toes as Riku sipped at the beverage. The tea was nothing special, but the way that the blonde man was grinning at him made Riku wonder if perhaps he should pat the other on his head or something. He glanced at the man's nametag, wondering if a personal thank you would be enough to make the hyperactive male go away.

The nametag read: Sora. Riku nearly choked on his mediocre boiled plant juice.

"You're not Sora." He glared.

The imposter at least had the decency to look ashamed before he replied, "I forgot my apron at home, so I had to borrow from my coworker. I'm Demyx," the blonde introduced himself with the pride of a three-year-old giving his mom a macaroni picture, "You know Sora?"

"Yeah, he's my—" Riku paused, looking at Demyx as if he was really seeing him for the first time. This man knew Sora; the last time Sora was acting odd was after one of his workdays. It must have been Demyx behind all the oddities Sora was picking up!

Demyx sent Riku a wary look as the male's face went through a myriad of expressions, finally settling on anger. The blonde man wondered briefly if his customer was having a stroke, but when Riku jumped out of his chair like he'd just caught on fire, Demyx reconsidered his thoughts and nearly pissed himself.

"You!" Riku growled, pointing an acrimonious finger at the server.

"Me?" Demyx squeaked, looking sick.

"What did you do to Sora?" The silveret snarled, advancing on the blonde.

Demyx backed away, stammering what could have possibly been the word 'what,' but might also have been 'why,' or 'whack-a-mole.' He tripped over the cleaning supplies on his retreat, successfully covering himself in murky mop water. Riku continued his advance. Demyx considered crying.

"Oh stop it." A monotone voice broke through the tension, and a thick book gave Riku a good blow about the head. Riku broke into a colorful string of curses as Demyx looked up at his savior. "Honestly, this is no place for a ruffian brawl. Out with you." The short slate haired man then dragged Riku outside by his hair, leaving Demyx star struck in his puddle of mop water.

"You don't understand!" Riku cried, doing his best not to have his hair ripped straight from his head, "that guy in there did—ow—something to my best friend and –ow!—I need to know what—OW!—he said!"

Zexion dropped his captive off on the sidewalk outside the eatery and sent the younger male a withering look that has been known to make grown men cry.

"Did you ever consider," The man began, seething, "to ask your friend what is wrong with him instead of assaulting those with whom he has connections?"

Riku gave the man a blank stare.

"No, of course you didn't," Zexion sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "that would have been too logical for you."

Riku continued to stare. The slate haired man frowned and checked his watch before muttering something about being late and walking away towards the library. Riku remained where he sat. About a half hour later Demyx sprinted from the restaurant, his butt still damp as he raced in the same direction that Zexion had gone earlier.

Daylight turned to dusk before Riku finally decided to do something. He pulled out his cell phone and quickly texted a message to his speed dial number 1.

'_Wanna hang out?'_

He didn't have long to wait before a reply came.

'_Sure thing! I need to talk to you about something anyhow. My place?"_

'_Uh…' _Riku paused for a moment, throwing in a few dots to emphasize his prolonged time thinking, _'me too, actually. See you in ten.'_

'_Cool, see you soon.'_

Riku stared at his phone a moment before finally pulling himself off of the sidewalk and walking the familiar route to Sora's home. He let himself inside with the spare key Sora had given him upon moving in and settled down on the couch. A few minutes later the cheery brunet came through the door, sending Riku a smile before he all but threw himself face down on the futon with the other boy.

"So what's up?" Sora asked, his voice muffled by the cushiony folded mattress.

"I missed you," Riku drawled teasingly, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy and coddling him, "This past day without your presence was pure torture!"

"Rikuuu," Sora whined as he giggled and squirmed his way out of the death-embrace.

"Soraaa," Riku mimicked.

Sora stuck out his tongue. Riku chuckled.

"So really, what's up?" The brunet asked again, finally having wiggled his way out of Riku's grasp.

"Well…" Riku paused, not sure how to word his inquiry without sounding insensitive. He decided it couldn't be done, "What's wrong with you?"

Sora stared at his best friend a moment, "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"What's wrong with me?" Riku questioned, slightly offended.

"No, what's wrong with me." Sora corrected.

"Who said anything is wrong with you?" The silver haired man asked, his temper flaring on behalf of his best friend.

"Well, technically, you just did." Sora teased with a sad smile.

"That's not what I meant," Riku countered, gathering up the smaller male in his arms once more, "Who said something was wrong with you?"

"Well Axel said that I wasn't sexy, Cloud said I couldn't cook, Selphie said I wasn't romantic, Kairi said I wasn't tough, Demyx said I wasn't quiet, and Zexion said a lot of things I didn't really understand but he found like twelve things wrong with me." Sora muttered, clutching at Riku's shirt. His big blue eyes peeked shyly into Riku's aqua ones, "I've tried to fix it, but…" He cut off with a choked sigh and reburied his head into the Riku's shirt.

Riku combed his fingers through the brunet's hair soothingly as he plotted ways to make everyone who had pointed out something 'wrong' suffer.

"Hey," Riku pulled Sora away from his damp shirt so he could look at the younger male properly. The brunet hastily wiped away a few remaining glistening tears. "They're the ones who are wrong. You can be super sexy when you want to be, but you look best as Sora. You can make a mean bowl of cereal; besides, why cook when you got me to do it for you? You're too logical and male to worry about being romantic, quiet people are boring—which you most definitely are not, might I add—and Zexion has the emotional capacity of a caesar salad."

This provoked a smile from the brunet boy, the last of his silent tears streaming down his face. With a gentle thumb, Riku wiped the offending droplet away and smiled at the boy before him.

"You're perfect just the way you are." The silveret whispered, as if suddenly aware of the surrounding silence and the closeness between his body and Sora's.

"Y-you think so?" Sora stammered, whispering as Riku had done.

"Yeah."

Sora leaned forward and crashed their lips together. It was awkward and messy and Riku had the vague notion that he had not only captures Sora's bottom lip, but a good portion of his chin as well. He didn't much mind though, because his best friend was kissing him and regardless of Sora being in desperate need of practice, he was enjoying it.

After an eternity of euphoric feeling (or rather, approximately two seconds of lip touching) Sora pulled away, his bottom lip and the majority of his chin covered in a glossy layer of spit. With all the class of a teenage boy, the brunet wiped his chin with the back of his hand and smiled. Riku's heart skipped a beat.

"You kissed me." Riku stated after a moment of intense silence (or rather, approximately .23 seconds of intense silence).

"Yeah," Sora smiled with pride, "I did!" His smile faltered quickly, however, "Oh gods Riku I didn't even think! You didn't like it, huh? I didn't mean to totally molest you! I'm so sorry!" Sora cried as his sense of achievement melted into a full-blown panic attack, "Please don't send me to jail! I'm too young for that! I won't survive!"

Riku stared past the drama fest in his lap like an enlightened man. It was like a light bulb had gone off, and all he could do was think 'gee, that was less complicated than I thought it might be.' Suddenly, everything made sense: why he felt compelled to be with the brunet all the time—holding hands, cuddling, dropping kisses into his hair—and why he was so protective him. He could no longer deny the questionable actions he took around the younger boy were purely out of friendship. There was something more to them. There was always something more between them.

But really, it would be irresponsible to not make sure…

So Riku leaned forward and silenced the panicking brunet with a much more refined kiss. Their lips met where lips are supposed to meet, and when Riku sucked on Sora's bottom lip, the boy let out a whine that had Riku's heart racing. He pulled back and looked at the brunet. Sora stared as if he'd just seen something divine.

Humming a little to pretend to himself that his mind was still not quite made up, Riku placed his hand to the back of Sora's head and guided the younger down to kiss him again. This time, he put his tongue to good use, coaxing Sora with licks and nibbles to open his mouth. When the silveret gained entrance, he explored with small touches and probes. Sora let out a soft sigh, going limp in Riku's hold and copying the older boy's moves. He pouted when Riku pulled away, obviously not pleased with the lack of attention. Riku let out a goofy smile and a soft laugh.

"So…I like you." Sora squirmed, blushing an unhealthy shade of radiated ketchup.

"I gathered as much." Riku teased.

"Do you…" He trailed off, looking away to hide his embarrassment, "you know…" He glanced back.

"Hm…I don't know." Riku lied, pulling the boy close to him again, "I might need to double-check." And he kissed the boy again, his heart pounding with every sigh and whimper that Sora emitted.

"Riku!" Sora whined, pulling away with some significant difficulty.

"Mm…" Riku hummed, drunk off kisses and feeling, "I think…" He began to kiss a trail up Sora's neck, "I like you too." He whispered, hot breath covering excited skin.

"R-r-really?" Sora stammered, his entire being heating up.

"Mhm." Riku nibbled on the younger's ear. He suddenly pulled back abruptly, staring directly into Sora's eyes. "As long as you promise not to change." He said seriously, "Or cook." He added as an afterthought.

"Deal," Sora grinned.

And Riku pulled him into another spine tingling lip lock, intent on kissing away each insecurity that had driven them into the insightful past two-week madness.


End file.
